Page 79 of Bound

“How are you this morning, wife?” Beck asks.

Every cell in my body is sated and languid.

“I’m surprisingly rested after everything you and Ci put methrough last night. Where is he?” I don’t see him in the room.

Cian isn’t on my other side. When we finally settled down tosleep, Cian was pressed against me. It’s funny how quickly I got used to havinghim curled around me at night. I suppose I’ll get used to sleeping in betweenmy husbands.

“Love, we bonded fully last night,” Beck says, gentlybrushing back my hair. His eyes are warm, but there’s a tight set to his mouth.“You do know what that means? Cian and I are together now. We’re one, thanks toyou. I’m the dominant personality. I absorbed him, but he’s here with us. He’salways going to be with us.” Beck puts a hand to my heart. “He’ll always loveyou, wife.”

Tears begin to well in my eyes. A feeling of panic threatensto overtake my whole world. Cian is gone? Nothing I read told me he would beabsorbed. What does that even mean? How is it possible? By becoming the bridgebetween them, they should be stronger individuals. I can’t have lost Cian. Myheart hurts. “I don’t understand.”

“Dominant personality, my ass,” a sarcastic voice says fromthe doorway. “It looks like you’ve absorbed a great deal of my personality,brother, but I assure our wife that I am still here.”

I sit straight up in bed, relief pouring through me. Cianleans against the doorframe, his lips quirking up. Beck laughs at his own trulyhorrible and inappropriate joke.

I pick up a pillow and hit him in the head with it. “Jerk.”

There are tears in Beck’s eyes as I stand and find the shiftI use as a nightgown. “I’m sorry, love. I couldn’t help it. He’s right. Iabsorbed too much of his personality.” Beck sits up and regards his brother.“It feels good to laugh. Did you get any of mine?”

“I suppose I did,” Cian allows. “After all, I am up beforethe two of you. I decided I should go check on the fields. I put work beforepleasure. It’s horrible. I’ll have to fight the instinct.”

“Well, I woke up knowing full well I had a lot to do thismorning,” Beck says, pulling me back into bed. I can’t help but laugh as hepresses his lips to my neck. “And still, I couldn’t force myself away from ourvery warm, very sexy wife. I think I’m going to enjoy having a piece of youinside me, brother.”

Cian rolls his eyes. “I’m glad for you. Unfortunately, Ithink the piece I took of you got stuck up my ass. If the two of you arefinished fucking, I would like for you to join me outside. Something’shappened.”

Beck goes still. “What is it?”

“You’ll have to come outside to see,” Cian says solemnly. “Ireally can’t describe it to you.”

Beck kisses me again and gently eases me off his lap. “Let’sgo see what’s happening, love.”

He rolls out of bed and pulls on his trousers. He shoves hisshirt over his head and lastly, makes sure his sword is secure across his back.I grab my robe, belting it around my waist. Cian leads us out of the bedroom,toward the door of the cottage.

“What on earth?” I ask as I’m drawn into the living area.The ivy I wove around the doorway has invaded the house. I hoped one day itwill cover much of the brick, but I knew it would take years. Apparently not.Thick vines of green have come in through the door and the windows.

Cian grins broadly. “You’re not on the Earth plane anymore,lover. And here, things just got a little more complicated.”

My eyes grow round with wonder as I walk outside. Themarigolds I planted in the flowerbeds at the front of the house multipliedovernight. The blooms are huge, and each petal brims with life. Even the grassaround the cottage seems greener and lusher than it did the previous day.

“What the hell happened here?” Beck asks.

Cian winks at me and lets go of my hand. He pulls a largenut seed out of his pocket and holds it up for our inspection. “Well, brother,I think I happened. You should probably stay back.”

Cian kneels down, shoves the seed into the ground, and holdshis hand there for a moment. It’s a bare second before the dirt rumbles. Cianis forced to step back. The tree shoots up, fully formed from the seed heplanted.

“What does it mean?” Beck asks, his mouth hanging open. Hewalks slowly around the new tree, inspecting it from all angles.

I do the same, awed by the vitality of the thing. The treethat was a mere seed moments before is lush and vibrant green, its branchesreaching toward the sunny sky. It looks as though it has been growing for tenor fifteen years.

“You know what it means,” Cian replies, looking more seriousthan I remember him ever being. “Look at the fields, brother. Look at thefields and tell me the legends were wrong.”

I turn with Beck and gasp as I take in the prosperous fieldsthat replaced the struggling ones. Crops that shouldn’t be harvested for amonth are ripe and ready to be picked.

Beck starts walking toward the fields, stopping at the smallgarden close to the brugh. It’s gone green and radiant, too.

“Someone needs to explain this to me,” I say, since myhusbands seem to be speaking their own language.

“It’s an old legend.” Beck bends over as he inspects aparticularly luscious strawberry plant. “Back in Tír na nÒg, the legend had itthat when royal symbiotic twins were born, if they found the right bondmate,she would bring them into their true power.”